Film Reviews: More Thai Cave choices

 

March 18, 2023                

Film Reviews: The Rescue; Netflix-Thai Cave Rescue; and Netflix documentary The TRAPPED 13 

The Rescue is a documentary, so that. We can say it’s different from a film with the same content, not a documentary, Thirteen Lives. But is it? Let’s look. Know this: from here on, The Rescue will be known as TR, and Thirteen Lives will be 13L. Netflix films following.

I had not heard of either film until Stephen Colbert had guest Ron Howard on Late Night, Aug. 4, 2022. Howard directed 13L, chatted it up, I wanted to see it. I’d heard about the event in 2018, quite a life and death thing for 12 young boys and their football (we call it soccer) coach, a young guy in his early 20s. I found it on Amazon Prime, oh by the way, there is a good $ discount for seniors to join Prime, whew. So I watched 13L many times, loved every minute every viewing, wrote a review of it and it’s on my blog.

But could I find how to watch TR? Nope. Sure could find several ways to see the trailer, but no way to see it because I don’t have the Disney thing. I googled everything, entered that title in many sites, I would have been happy to buy it, saw no such option anywhere.

With all my googling, I could find interviews with folks associated with TR, one, with one of the directors, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, that excited me. She and her hubby and co-director Jimmy Chinn, worked for over two years to get permission to have access to over 80 hours of film footage shot by a professional film crew embedded with the Thai Navy Seals through most of the event. Wow! And how did that happen, you ask. Well, turns out one of the top brass with the Thai Navy Seals is married to a journalist, and she got the “ok” to arrange the filming. Now I had to find that film! And I did, much more googling and some site offered it for free. Ads. Whew.

Keep in mind this hard fact – as both films started to get underway, well, throw in covd for more drama.

My first look at TR was here on my small computer screen. Then I got very lucky to see the film at my son’s home for a week, yep, they be gone, I be there with dog, cats, blah blah blah and Disney+! My son’s tv is HUGE, and the couch is about 6 ft. away. OMG, the people in the film are as big or bigger than me. I felt like I was in the film, as I did when I first saw 13L there months ago. Something about the people I’m watching being my size and I can almost reach out to touch them, this really pulls me in.

So, TR. They took film footage from Thai Navy Seals and wove it in a stunning film by using reenactments to fill in parts of the narrative that helps viewers navigate the astounding events. Oh, a love story there, too! Almost funny, 13L, the Hollywood look at the event, didn’t mention this love thing. But the documentary sure did!

Is one film better than the other? No, they work together methinks. If you know almost nothing about the horrible nightmare playing out for thousands of Thai’s and others all over the world, well, I recommend start with 13L. I love that film, love the effort that went into making it, and I still love to see it. When you add TR, get ready for brutal truth, MUCH more drama, much more glimpses of what went wrong - - OMG. For instance, with 13L, we see our British Cave Rescue Council – BCRC – divers bringing out one Thai who was trapped in the rapidly flooding cave. With TR, it was four Thai’s that had to be rescued and it was very difficult to breathe while I watched that.

Want to learn why the BCRC folks have this weekend hobby of diving in flooded caves? TR is your film. We get wonderful backstories on several of the men who did the rescue. How they enjoy being under water in extreme circumstances, how they handle their complicated equipment, and OMG, one of the BCRC guys, Rick Stanton, designed and made his own side-mount re-breather, we see it! Also quite enjoyable, are glimpses of the men explaining how they were “losers” as young men, or as John Volanthen says to describe himself as a boy, “Good description, ‘doesn’t play well with others’ would fit me.” We get excellent close-up interviews with several of the men, and they all explain their young years in similar tones. There’s real value with this aspect of the real-life drama. I highly recommend paying attention to how Volanthen explains how he prepared for finding dead kids floating. Visualization, oh my.

Ah, another hefty with TR – we get to see some flash points of conflict that resulted when the BCRC guys showed up to do what Thai Navy Seals could not. VERY interesting!

Ah, the TR has very hard aspects to watch and process. SPOILER ALERT: the BCRC men “gave up” and asked for flights to leave, hmm, nope. I am grateful to TR directors for giving us this harsh truth. And more grateful that they gave Volanthen screen time to explain this and his shame at his own poor decision.

As I mentioned with 13L film review, Northern Thailand is so different from South Thailand, the language spoken either place is almost unrecognizable to each other. So here’s something else we learn: Northern Thai’s have deep respect for a Buddhist monk, Kruba Boonchum, who lives in Myanmar, just miles away from the scene of the nightmare coming true. With TR, we see him! We see how he is revered, and OMG, guess what? He predicts the outcome exactly! WOW!!!!!!!!!!

And how I’d like to know what’s going on in a moment of TR, locals praying with big nets on sticks. I know next to nothing about that religion, so that. But to my credit, I have watched another film, made by Hollywood then buried by Hollywood, Kundun, now on you tube, and have some beginner understanding of Buddhist beliefs. That re-incarnation thing. I wonder, did the parents of the boys trapped in the cave think their child wouldn’t really die as we Westerners grasp death, or what? Almost stupid, as so many Westerners believe that we don’t die, we go to heaven. Surrre. Me? When death arrives, I hope I can feed some worms. Birds eat worms. In the meantime, I strive for giving love labor as I can to places like Martin Luther King Park in Kalamazoo.

In both films we get some fine and worthy look at Vern Unsworth, a Brit who has mapped the cave, helped expand it to it’s current length, and was a most important fellow to help with the possible solutions to the most complex life/death problem. In TR, we meet his Thai “partner” and she becomes a valuable assistant as the process rolls.

In TR, we meet Josh Morris, he was a key part of the development of the interface between Thai authorities and the BCRC folks trying to work out the very life-threatening way to save the kids. Morris has a diving school, is bi-lingual, English and Thai. Northern Thai dialect, I hope.

Graphics, did I mention excellent graphics with TR? How me, sitting in Kalamazoo, Michigan, can grasp the cave dynamics, well, the graphics. Thank you, TR. From the entrance of the cave, to where the kids were, 6.2 miles. “Meters or kilometers” means nothing to me, so I needed my way of understanding distance.  I am so grateful to another film, The TRAPPED 13, and an explanation of how they originally went just beyond the T-junction and decided to head back, and got stopped by the water, then as things got much worse, they headed deeper within the cave hoping to find more dry land. Did I mention a love story, too?

Need some humor? Watch Volanthen explain his housing situation when he and Stanton were brought in by the Thai government to help. They were taken directly to the cave while it rained cats and dogs, they had to ride in the back of an open pick-up truck to their housing, and - - get ready - - one double bed for two men. I LOVE Volanthen’s look as he describes that problem! Smile!

We get excellent information on cave conditions, on the way in, diving against very strong current and the water is the color of cold coffee. Divers could often not see beyond their face mask and why bare hands are extremely important to feel your way through the danger. What both films can’t adequately portray, when we see the re-enactments, shot in film sets, is how nasty the water is. For the filming, we see fairly clear water, so the camera can get the scene. In real life, oh no. Hell no. If you can’t keep a map in your brain of cave twists and turns, it is extremely easy to panic, get turned around, and die because you couldn’t see at all. As the BCRC folks know, panic in those conditions means death. Get ready, you’re gonna see some. Try a big tv screen, panic with them.

Keep in mind for both films, add the covd thing. Death here, there, everywhere. TR director, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, said that maybe her coming to Thailand in the depths of the covd nightmare might have helped the Thai authorities to grasp that she was REAL serious about making this doc. Thankfully she and hubby Jimmy Chinn had a stunning documentary under their belt, Free Solo.

Fear? Oh yeah, big time. Imagine this. You are an anesthetist; your day job is giving folks BIG drugs to help with surgery. Then, hey, how about drugging starving kids, putting their faces under water and tying their hands behind their backs? You? You have that nerve? You willing to be labeled the doctor who kills kids? Fear. TR brings this nightmare to full light.

Thank God for the love story.

Each film matters to each other. I need both to understand the depth and breadth of the nightmare. Release date for TR – 10/8/21, for 13L 8/5/22. Both had a lot to say, both covered serious events with respect and care, both matter. Yet how I appreciate the contrast, as with 13L I can have some distance knowing I’m watching actors doing their work. With TR, no. No. No. No relief with this film, no. Viewer is in it, enthralled, engulfed with every danger, nail biting allowed. What could go wrong did go wrong, time and time again for 10 days, then it gets worse.

Death. Want to watch someone die? Check 13L, they give a respectful conclusion to a Thai man, former Thai Navy Seal, Saman Gunan, who volunteers with the Seals but things go very very very wrong. With TR, we meet his widow, Waleeporn, a deeply touching look at what she must endure. I very much appreciate the directors of TR for giving such up close and personal time with her, it matters. Her joy when the kids survived, what class.

I wondered what went wrong when Thai Navy Seals went to the kids after the BCRC guys found them. Well, wrong becomes another nightmare. They used too much of their tank oxygen on the way in, and worse, had not understood how tough the long dive would be. With TR, OMG, the first Thai Seals did not return after 10 hours, so another group of Seals went in. Now seven Seals with the kids, and the complications of enough air to make a 3+ hour exit was serious. And of course, now seven adults breathing there, when it was already known, thanks to BCRC divers, that the oxygen where the kids were was VERY low. Now more demand on dwindling ambient oxygen. OMG.

How to save the kids? Josh Morris told the Thai authorities, “…you have two terrible choices, one is worse than the other.”

Something very cool – with TR, we meet Dr. Harris at work! I really liked this intro to this key person, even though now the events get even harder to see any good outcomes, but hold on. Get ready for a miracle.

Before a miracle, we need to understand what Dr. Harris might do. And what that might mean. If a kid died, it would be on him. Get your mind around that. And then, this. If things got real bad, Dr. Harris might be facing Thai prison. Really. He knew it, his wife, who we meet a few times, also a Dr., knows it, and it was ugly in many ways. According to BCRC Stanton, if things had gone bad, dead kid/kids, there was a plan to extract the foreigners out FAST, on back roads, to American Embassy. He said it was a “Bond-esque” solution if things went very wrong. Think of it, the parents of the kids were right there, had things gone horrible, the parents and some large part of the thousands on site could have quickly turned on the BCRC divers. I’m down to my last fingernail.

So interesting with the TR, we see what the American military, Air Force folks, arrived to help, and really, quite impressive. When the plan was in the making, the Americans made a “ground map” of the cave so all divers could have some concept of what they were facing, where more oxygen tanks might be handy, where other BCRC divers would wait as needed, and I truly appreciated seeing this.

Music with first day of rescue, yes!

I wonder, hmm, what about the language problems? First with the BCRC guys getting the Thai pump workers out, unless one of the Thai’s had enough English to grasp what was offered, hmm. Then, when we see the BCRC guys find the kids, only one kid has some English, but does Volanthen give enough time for the kid to translate to the others and give the coach time to respond? No. Stress doesn’t allow…

Oh, did I mention a love story in TR? Hope you have a way to watch!

One hard aftermath, a death of one of the kids, team captain Duangphet Phromthep, “Dom,” died on February 14, 2023, in the UK while attending a Football (soccer) Academy, he was 17, found unresponsive in his bed, rushed to local hospital, and died there. No news of why. His mother requests a Buddhist funeral where he died, as otherwise, his spirit will be trapped in the UK.

With beauty and power, we learn from both films how the coach, Ekapol Chantawong, “Ake,” or Eak, helped the young guys to endure the extremely harsh circumstance by teaching them meditation. How I look forward to a film about their cave weeks.

I found the end credits for both films worth watching and hearing, you might, too.

Oh! Other films, both Netflix  -  Thai Cave Rescue, just found it, just watched all 6 – 1 hr. episodes, disclaimer that they fictionalized some aspects, actors all, and again, so very challenging to film in stage sets geared for dark spaces and underwater. This one has the circumstances of the boys & coach as a solid thread through the whole narrative, lots of dark scenes. How I hope this has some truth of what the real folks trapped in there endured. How I also hope this look at young women making important contributions is fact. The end credits give a fine look at each Wild Boar, then and recent. And finally maybe this is the factual answer to why the idea of running a plastic/pvc pipe to get oxygen to the trapped didn’t pan out. So hard to know what to trust when the real events get a make-over. How I hope the Seal Dr. didn’t really tell the kids why/how they might die during rescue. UGH. Yet definitely worth my time to watch every minute.

The TRAPPED 13, How We Survived the Thai Cave, a Netflix documentary, is sharp in this way – it’s primarily telling the events from the Coach and five of the Wild Boars experiences in the cave. Yes, many reenactments with actors, all worthy. I’ve wondered from my first viewing of Thirteen Lives what do the kids and coach have to tell us? Here it is. Curious, only five of the kids stepped forward for this Netflix work, methinks all the kids families lawyered up.

Several interesting dramas going on as the kids & Coach started to realize their situation. Now a look at Coach’s idea of tying a rope around his waist, having the kids hold the other end, and he dove when they were first confronted with the rising water while near the T-junction. Coach almost didn’t make it, and this was very early on. Somehow in the next few hours, they all continued deep into the cave, dry land was becoming scarce.

I wondered about this - - apparently one of the older kids had a wristwatch on. I thought in other narratives it was the Coach who had a working watch, guess not. If I believe Netflix.

Also discussed, some parents and kids share same bed. I’m glad this was included, as I’d heard of some cultures that do that, and now more of us Westerners will know of this very acceptable parenting.

What is so important and hard to learn is the Coach’s backstory. He started life in Burma/Myanmar with parents and younger brother, each died and as a little kid, he was taken to local Buddhist monastery by an uncle, here’s where you’ll get education. Good-bye. Real value here.

We get some understanding of what the kids went through, I appreciate this perspective. Coach had a breakdown along the way, kept it to himself. Imagine that. The kids went through bouts of depression, anxiety, fear, hopelessness, of course hunger and yep, from starving, hallucinations became a thing. And oh, that digging thing. Coach found an area that was mostly a wall of dirt, and invented an idea that if they all dig (with hands or holding smaller rock as tool), they would reach the outside and surface at a nearby orange grove with oranges ready to eat. He tells interviewer that he thought that for the kids to have something to do would help them have structure to time (can you imagine being in total darkness for that long? Yeah, flashlights, but what’s really missing is the sun marking time – take that away!) and reason to hope. I had to fight my own freaking out about that dig thing - - what if they made a small landslide happen with the TONS of rocks just above their dirt wall? Oh yes, a true LOL with what one of the kids said about a naked lady!

OMG – could this be true? Just before the kids were found, they were really in stages of dying, and according to TRAPPED, there was discussion between the group, whoever dies first will be food for the rest of us. OMG. OMG. OMG.

Speaking of worst case scenarios, here’s another with this film: Dr. Harry explains all the ways the kid could die, third on the list was the kid would freeze to death being in cold water for hours with very diminished respiration because of the drugs. Yikes.

One “fact” that is mentioned in both Netflix films, that the parents were asked to sign release forms in case  - - well, you know. And apparently soon all knew who had been taken to the hospital and who was still in the cave. I try to get my head around how very weak they all were, and it took a while with best medical care and therapies to get them fully functioning. Miracles at every turn. There is a God.